The present invention generally relates to computerized accounting systems and programs that allow non-accountant users to edit and delete accounting transactions while maintaining a general ledger in accordance with strict accounting rules that are preferred by auditors and accountants.
Computerized accounting systems (i.e., software applications) are available that are configured for use by both accountants and non-accountants. These systems allow users to set up various types of accounts such as expense accounts, customer accounts, vendor accounts, and perform various tasks within each. Additionally, such systems allow users to generate customized transaction documents that reflect paper documents that are used to create financial transactions. Such transaction documents include invoices, vendor bills, checks, deposits, journal entries and other documents that record or represent financial transactions for the business.
Computerized accounting systems generally perform basic accounting tasks for the non-accountant user including the maintenance of a general ledger. The general ledger maintains a list of posted transactions relating to an account that are recorded in transaction documents (i.e., an invoice). Such transactions generally include credits and debits. For example, user can generate an invoice for a transaction in which ten items are sold to a customer. The invoice lists various information about the sale, such as customer information, the date of sale, the quantity of items sold, the cost for each item, and the total cost of the sale. When the user saves the invoice, the transactions recorded therein are posted to the general ledger of the system.
If a change is desired to any of the transactions contained in the original transaction document that was posted to the general ledger, such systems allow the user repost or modify the original transaction document. In general, the user opens the original transaction document and directly edits the transactions contained therein. The edited original transaction document replaces the original transaction document when it is saved, and the computerized accounting system only posts the transaction changes to the general ledger that were made as a result of the edits.
Accordingly, no posting is made to the general ledger for transactions that remain unchanged in the edited original transaction document. However, where a partial credit, a debit, or other modification is applied to one of the original transactions, only the change in the original transaction is posted to the general ledger. For example, when the original transaction document is edited to apply a $20 credit to an original transaction consisting of a debit of $100, only the $20 credit is posted in the general ledger.
Unfortunately, such general ledger posting practices fail to meet strict accounting rules that are preferred by auditors and accountants. One such rule requires that original transaction documents that are posted to the general ledger never be deleted or edited. Accordingly, once an original transaction document is generated it should not be directly edited as is allowed by prior art computerized accounting systems.
Therefore, a need exists for a method of reposting or modifying an original transaction document in a computerized accounting system or application that satisfies the preferred rule of accountants and auditors.